reconnaissance

noun

re·​con·​nais·​sance ri-ˈkä-nə-zən(t)s 

-sən(t)s

: a preliminary survey to gain information

especially : an exploratory military survey of enemy territory

Examples of reconnaissance in a Sentence

There are two helicopters available for reconnaissance.

They did a reconnaissance of the enemy's position.

Recent Examples on the Web

That includes identifying targets and carrying out reconnaissance, or deciding what to do once that target has been compromised. — Thomas Brewster, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

This can support reconnaissance, surveillance, threat warning, and battlefield awareness. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 21 July 2026

An Air Force Reserve reconnaissance crew is set to investigate the tropical depression. — Robin Webb, Sun Sentinel, 19 July 2026

Typically, the first malware to run was a reconnaissance program that gathered information from the infected device. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 16 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, recognition, from Middle French reconoissance, from Old French reconoistre to recognize

First Known Use

1779, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

reconnaissance

noun

re·​con·​nais·​sance ri-ˈkän-ə-zən(t)s 

: a survey (as of enemy territory) to gain information